Piling-machine



F. SUMMERS. PILING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.15, 1920. I

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F. SUMMERS.

FILING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. l5| I920.

1,399,528, Patented Dec. 6, 19M.

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FILING MACHINE.

APPLICATION men 0:015. 1920.

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FILING MACHINE.

APPLICATION men DEC. 15. 1920.

1 399,528, Patented Dec; 6, 1921.

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FILING-ll/[AGI-IINJE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 6, tdtt.

Application filed December 15, 1920. Serial No, 431,805.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, FRANK fioiuninns, a citizen of the United States, residing at indiana Harbor, Crown Point county, Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Piling-lvlachines, of which the following, taken in connection with the drawings, is a description.

My invention has for its object the production of mechanism designed to be used more particularly in steel mills or other places where iron bars are delivered. upon a platform from the rolling mill and whicl'i require to be sorted, packed and tied in bundles, sent to the scales and weighed and from thence are delivered where desired.

fleretofore it has been customary to employ men to do this work by hand, which is slow, heavy and laborious; due to the fact that the bars come from the mill hot, it is extremely difficult to get men for this class of work.

With the use of my invention I am able to greatly increase the volume of work with less than one quarter the number of men necessary to do this work by hand, thereby materially increasing the output of the mill and lessening the expense necessary in connection with this work.

It is an object of my invention to provide a platform upon which the hot rolls or bars of iron may be discharged from the mill; from this platform the bars are automatically removed by a traveling carrier having mechanism thereon for moving and assembling the bars in a pile, transporting said carriage by motor driven mechanism to a scale platform upon which said bars are deposited, all without being handled by hand. Upon this scale platform the pile or bundle is weighed, tied and discharged to make way for the next bundle.

It is also an object of my invention to provide means for raising and lowering the platform of the transporting mechanism whereby bars may be laid in rows or tiers to form the bundle; to deposit the bundle upon the scale platform, lower the platform out of contact with the bundle and reverse the mechanism for the next load, all of this being done by the operation of switch mechanism which can be manipulated by a single operator, who also assembles the load on the receiving platform, moves the carriage to the delivery platform and discharges the ioad on the scales.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art and in the accompanying drawings l1 have illustrated what I now consider the preferred form of an. embodiment of my invention, although ll do not desire to be limited to the precise details of construction as here shown.

lln these drawings Figure 1 is a top plan view of my invention,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of I Fig. 3 is a hingitudinal, sectional view taken on line of Fig. 1, showing the carrier at the discharge end of its movement, Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the travel 111g carrier including the projecting arms from the receiving table in section taken from line H of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is a transverse, sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 is a sectional 6-6 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings 77 are the rails of a track which is laid upon the floor of the building and extend from a receiving to a discharging platform upon which the material to be handled is distributed.

At one end of this track is a receivin platform 8, which is arranged in an elevated position above the tracks 7 and has projecting from one side thereof a plurality of arms 9, which are spaced apart as shown in Fig. 1. The outer ends of these arms 9 are chamfered as at 10 to permit a more ready movement of the bars onto the receivin table.

At the opposite end of this track 7 is a scale 11, having a platform 12, which is arranged in an elevated position as shown, and projecting therefrom in the direction of the receiving platform, 8, is a plurality of arms 13 also arranged in spaced apart relation to each other as shown in Fig. 1.

l have not shown the weighing mechanism in connection with this scale platform as it forms no part of my present invention, any scale on the market suitable for the purpose will answer for the weighing mechanism.

Movable upon the track 7 between the reeiving platform 8 and the discharging platform 12 is a traveling carrier which I Wlll the same.

detail taken on line now describe, and which is constructed for the purpose of receiving the bars from the platform 8, arranging them in a pile in the carrier and discharging them on the platform of the scales.

This traveling carrier comprises an upright frame, having the side members, 14, and the top 15, supported on a suitable base 16. The base 16 is provided upon each side thereof with suitable bearings within which are journaled the rotating members 17 upon which the carrier frame with the mechanism supported thereon is moved between theprojecting arms 9 and 13 of the receivin and discharging platforms 8 and 12.

'ounted within the supporting frame of the carrier is a vertically, movable table 18, the length of which extends trans- Versely of the carrier frame, the ends thereof projecting beyond said frame, (Fig. 4). Arranged in spaced apart relationship to each other upon the top of this table are a plurality of beams 19, corresponding in number to the arms 9 of the receiving table 8, positioned to be brought into contact with said arms as shown in Fig. 2, the chamfered end 10 of each of the arms 9 resting upon the meeting ends of each of the beams 19 to form a continuous support upon which the material to be handled is moved from one to the other in the loading operation hereinafter explained; Each of the beams 19 project beyond the edge of the table 18 and has formed in the projecting end thereof a recess or trough 20, into which is received any imperfect bar which is removed therefrom and sent to the discard.

Fixedly secured to the supporting frame 15 upon the inside thereof are a plurality of tracks or guideways, 21., which extend from the receiving end of the carrier rearwardly toward the discharge or scale end of the carrier. These tracks or guideways, 21. may be of any suitable construction designed to maintain suspended therefrom a loading mechanism. In this instance I have shown a plurality of elongated beams forming guideways 21 having upon the upper face thereof a recess extending lengthwise of each beam forming the shoulders 22 on each side of a central slot 23. Extending from each slot 23 is a supporting member 24 carrying the rollers 25*25 which move upon the shoulders 22. Extending parallel with the tracks or guide members 21. and at tached to the supporting members 24 are the beams 26 upon the underside of each of which is a rack 27 (Fig. 2).

Supported between the side frames 14-14 of the carrier, between the table 18and the loading mechanism is a supporting frame or table 28, and rising therefrom are the bearings 29 on which is mounted a shaft 30 carrying the driving gears 31 which transmit motion to the rack 27, which is in operative contact with the gears 31. The gears 31 have operative connection with a driving shaft 32 which is actuated by a motor having connection with a suitable source of power.

Rigidly attached to the forward end of the beams 26 is a transversely extending frame 34 and to this frame member 34 is fixedly secured the downwardly extending arms 35.

Each of the arms 35 has a suitable linger 36 pivotally attached thereto which finger is preferably set into a recess formed in the side of the arm 35 shown more clearly in Fig. 4. The movable fingers 36 are adapted to swing in one direction from a vertical line as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, each finger carrying a projection 57 which strikes an abutment formed on the arm by a recessed portion fitting the attached end of the finger and maintains it in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2 when the loading mechanism is to be moved in a rearward direction or toward the scales 13, before permitting said fingers to be turned to the dotted line position when passing over the bars 38.

By suitable electrical connections (not here shown as it forms no part of my invention), extending from the motor 33 to a switch 39, the operation of the loading mechanism may be conducted by the operator who is stationed upon a platform 40. which platform is attached to and moves with the carrier as it travels from the ceiving to the discharge end of the track 7. The receiving table 18 is suspended within the supporting frame members 14 from the top 15 of the roller. The table 18 is adjustable vertically between the frame members l4. Mounted upon the supporting frame member 15 are suitable hearings 4141, in which are journaled the shafts 42-43. Mountedupon the shafts 42 are the spur gears 44. Mounted upon the shaft 41) is a driving gear 45 which is actuated by a driving pinion 46 mounted upon a driving shaft 47 having connection with the motor 48. which has communication with a suitable source of power. end of the shaft 43 is a pinion 49 through which motion is transmitted to the gears -14. mounted on shafts 42-42.

Suitably connected with the table 18 are the blocks 50 supporting the sheaves 51 over which extend the cables 52. which are at; tached to and wound upon the shafts 42. Extending-from the motor 48 to a switch are suitable electrical connections by means of which power may be controlled for operating the shafts and which rotate to raise or lower the cable 18 as hereinafter explained.

-The lower transversely extending member 54 which forms part of the supporting frame of the traveling carriage has rising Carried upon each therefrom a bearing member in which is mounted the shaft 56. Mounted upon this shaft is a driving gear 57 which is actuated by the pinion 58 mounted upon the driving shaft of a motor 59 which inturn is connected with a source of electrical energy. This shaft 56 carries on each end thereof a driving pinion 60. Mounted in operative relation with each pinion 60 are gears 61, which gears are mounted upon trunnions 32 extending from the wheels or rollers 16 which move the entire mechanism of the carrier from the receiving to the discharging platform. Suitable connections (not here shown) extend from the motor 59 to a switch 63 located within convenient reach of the operator stationed upon a platform 10 who may start and stop the carrier as required.

l Vhen the machine is ready for operation the carrier is brought to the position shown in Fig. 2, the projecting arms 9 of the receiving or loading platform being in contact with the beams 19 on the table of the carrier. Bars of iron, any number of them, are discharged upon the receiving table 8 and by means of an attendant one by one said bars are moved to a position toward the free ends of the arm 9 and toward said receiving table. The loading mechanism operating through the overhead rack 27 is advanced to the position shown in Fig. 3, the fingers 36 swinging on a pivot 36 to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, until they pass over the first bar of iron 38, and bear against the opposite side thereof. The current is turned on the motor 33 which will actuate the mechanism to move the frame 26 rearwardly carrying with it the bar 38, which slides over the chamfered ends of the arms 9 on the table 18 where the first bar is deposited. The frame is then advanced for the second bar in the same manner and the third likewise until three bars are deposited upon the top of the beams 19 close to and parallel with each other.

By the operation of the switch controlling the motor 18 and the mechanism actuated thereby as heretofore described, the table 18 is lowered until the top of the bars 38 are brought to the proper level with respect to the projecting arms 9 to permit three more bars to be placed upon the three already on the. table in the same manner as heretofore described. The operator then again lowers said table 18 until the top of the second row of bars is in proper position with respect to the arms 9 that the third row of bars may be placed upon the two former rows; preferably for convenience of handling two bars will be laid on the top row. The carrier is then ready to be moved rearwardly to the scales.

By the operation of the switch 63 the motor is caused to actuate the driving gear 57 which is in operative connection with the wheels of the carrier and moves said carrier rearwardly when the arms 13 projecting from the scales will enter the spaces between the beams 19 on the table beneath the bars 38 which are piled thereon, the parts being in the relative positions shown in Fig. 3.1

The carrier is then stopped, the o' 'ierator lowers the table 18 slightly to allow eas' -i witljidrawal of the beams19 which 81113 .;0112 the bars 38, by the same mechanism hereto fore described, leaving the bars 38 deposited upon the arms of the scales. The operator then reverses the direction of movement of the roller through the mechanism heretofore described and causes said carrier to move forwardly to the reed ing platform; b the same mechanism heretofore described the operator raises the table to the level of the projecting arms 9 and the machine is ready for reloading.

I liave herein. described the load to be placed upon the table in the carrier by depositing oue bar at a time until three bars have been placed in a row upon said table, but it is to be understood that l contemplate using this mechanism for more bars when desired, the number being regulated by the size of said bars.

An attendant at the discharge platform binds the bars 38 together into a bundle and they are then removed from the scales in any manner found expedient.

I claim 1. lln a device of the class described, the combination of a receiving platform, having arms spaced apart and projecting from one side thereof, a discharge platform having arms extending toward the receiving platform but not in line therewith, a carrier movable from one of said platforms to the other, means for assembling a plurality of articles on said carrier from the receiving platform and means for depositing said articles onto the discharge platform.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a receiving platform having arms spaced apart and projecting from one side thereof, a discharge platform having arms extending from said receiving platform, a track extending from one platform to the other, a carrier movable upon said track, a vertically adjustable table supported within said carrier, beams arranged upon said table in spaced apart relation to each other and in line with the arms extending from the receiving table, means for assembling a plurality of articles upon said table, and means for moving said carrier to the discharge platform and depositing said articles thereon.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a receiving platform having arms spaced apart and projecting from one side thereof, the pro ecting ends of said arms being chamfered, a discharge platform having arms extending toward the receiving platform but not in line therewith, a carrier rinovable between said Platforms, a vertically adjustable table on said carrier, beams supported upon said table and spaced apart with respect to each other, said beams extending in. a line parallel to the arms of ,the receiving platform, means for assembling a plurality of articles in the aforesaid carrier, means for moving said carrier to the discharge platform and positioning the aforesaid beams between the projecting arms of the discharge platform and means for 'lowering'the carrier table and depositing the articles upon the discharge platform.

4-. In a device of the class described, the combination of receiving anddischarge platforms, a track extending from one to the other, a carrier movable between said platforms on the aforesaid track, a vertically 5. In a device of the class described, the combination of receiving and discharge platforms, a track extending from one to the other, a movable carrier thereon, a vertically adjustable table in said carrier, upon which the load to be transported is deposited, a loading mechanism mounted above said. table, means for reciprocating said loading mechanism within the carrier frame, means for moving said carrier to the discharge platform and means for lowering said table and depositing its load on the discharge table.

In a device of the class described, the combination of receiving and discharge platforms, a track between said platfm'ms, a carrier movable on said track, a vertically adjustable table in said carrier, loading mechanism movably mounted above said table, means for actuating said loading mechanism independently of the carrier to assemble a plurality of articles upon said table, F 

